Aikenwood Academy
by OzzyFL
Summary: Dumbledore sets up a new school in America.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

The breeze is blowing in a cool mid-March fashion through the woods on the outskirts of Aiken, South Carolina. Here a bird chirps merrily, there a squirrel chatters to itself and even a few deer further on are enjoying themselves verbally as deer often do. Near the ruin of an old and much forgotten Catholic church deep with these woods, there is a slight "pop" and three humans appear out of nowhere. These humans don't look normal at all, however, as they are dressed in long robes and each wearing a particularly odd looking hat. The one on the right, a tall, thin lady who looks about 40 years old, is wearing deep violet robes and the kind of hat one might see on a "witch" during Halloween. The one in the middle is wearing sky blue robes with moons and stars all over them. He has long silvery hair running down his back and some over his shoulders, as well as a long silvery beard, making his age impossible to guess, though it is apparent he is very old. This man has ancient silvery-blue eyes; a kindly smile and half-moon shaped glasses hanging half-way down his long crooked nose. He is wearing a midnight blue cone-shaped hat that leers over about halfway up that is also covered in moons and stars. The third of this pair is a squat young red headed man, probably in his mid 20s. He is wearing a tattered looking gray cloak over his paling green robes, a giddy and youthful smile, and a mustard-colored top hat. The three look at the old Catholic church, then take off for the front door, which is on the other side of the building.

As the three walk around the building, the ancient man who trails behind the other two says nothing, but merely smiles, while the other two look on the church with amazement, whispering to themselves and finally to each other. The young man is the first to speak up, not seeming so squat now as he is very excited, his ears pinkening a bit as well as his cheeks, where there are shadows of freckles that had not too long-ago faded.

"Professor Dumbledore, this is amazing. Have you finished the enchantments yet?" The young man asks in a very excited voice that sounded a bit high-pitched for his age and build. At this, the old man, whose wisdom is uncalculated though very apparent in his wizened old face replies with his calm, warm voice,

"Please Thomaston, from this day forward, call me Albus. And no, I have not finished enchanting it yet. The final touches will be left to you and Margarina."

The middle-aged lady looks from the building back to the old man and then on the young man, her brown hair glistening as some rays of sun catch it through the tress as she turns her head. She notices the young mans eyes are twinkling with what she knows is the same question she wants to ask. 

"May we have a look inside?" She asks with a perfect stream of voice, much like water flowing steadily down a river.

The old man smiles, nods his head, and answers their question, 

"Ah, yes, it is time to see what you think about Aikenwood." At this, he gestures with his hands toward the churches front doors, which open as if commanded. Bright light floods out the doors and down the front steps, and seems to follow the wrap-around porch. As the three step through the front doors, their eyes become accustomed to the light, and the two younger inhabitants are quite delighted in what they see. There is a vast curbing staircase to their left and to their right, each facing opposite directions as they head up to the second floor. There is also a staircase leading down under the one facing away from them. There is a set of double doors down the middle of the vast room, straight a head of them, and there is also one on the wall at the foot of the stairwell facing them. As the three venture towards the middle of the gigantic room, they notice the swirling patterns in the floor leading to the different staircases. A dozen great chandeliers are hanging from the high ceiling, and every candle is lit, emitting more light than one would think candles could. As they walk on towards the double doors on the far wall, they notice another staircase leading down under the one that was facing them, and another door, though not on the wall like the other one at the foot of the other staircase. No, this door was on the floor, some feet away from the stairwell leading down under the one leading up. Curiosity was getting the best of Thomaston, and noticing this, Dumbledore delightedly speaks up.

"That door will lead to the caretakers' office and quarters. You will find all the cleaning supplies as well as extra classroom supplies you will need in there. That reminds me, have you found your caretaker yet, Margarina?"

At the sound of her name, the brown haired woman turns her head from the far staircase she was inspecting, again seeming to catch every bit of light in each strand of hair, looks at Albus Dumbledore and replies.

"Yes, his name is Charles Goodenough. And he should be here shortly."

"Excellent, I should very much like to meet him."

"He is half-muggle"

"That won't matter."

"He has been working with Muggles as a janitor at a high school for some time." 

"He sounds rather qualified for the job then"

"He is, quite...well...radical."

"Ah, I think I like him already. What do you think, Professor Ebbershire?"

At the sound of the word "Professor" followed by his own name, Thomaston Ebbershire, looking very well embarrassed, his ears almost scarlet, nods his head excitedly in agreement.

"Well then, let's continue our tour, shall we?" Albus Dumbledore continues and moves towards the double doors in the middle of the far wall. 

As the double doors open, the three walk into a great hall filled with tables and chairs, stacked neatly around the perimeter of the room, ready to use. There are two doors to their right, one which says "Enter" and the other which says "Exit". There is also another large door in the wall that doesn't quite go down to the floor. It is several feet away from the "Enter" and "Exit" doors. Looking up they notice they can not see a ceiling, though surely there must be one, but instead they see the sun shining down on them brightly, but not emitting any heat. Instantly Professor Ebbershire cracks a smile, nudges Professor Castleton and says excitedly

"Look Margarina, this hall is enchanted just like Hogwarts!"

Professor Dumbledore quickly responds, "Yes, I thought I would put a few touches of home into this school for you, knowing how fond you both are of it." 

Looking worriedly, Margarina Castleton quickly retorts "The staircases don't move, do they?"

"No, I'm afraid this school is not yet big enough for moving staircases, though I daresay it might well be in the future."

"How many students will there be in our first year?" Professor Ebbershire asked Dumbledore, looking up at the enchanted ceiling once more.

"I am expecting around 40 for the first school year." Professor Dumbledore replied.

"Only 40, why so few, Albus" Professor Castleton asked.  

~Just as Dumbledore was about to reply, a loud "pop" could be heard from outside. Dumbledore, Castleton and Ebbershire all look at each other, and Dumbledore is the first to respond. ~

"Ah, Margarina, I believe our new caretaker has arrived. Shall we great him?" and with this, Dumbledore raises his right arm, sticks it out straight in front of him facing the back wall of the great hall, rotates his hand so that this palm is now facing up, and pulls his fingers to face upward. Instantly, a door appears straight in front of them on the back wall, and within seconds they hear a knocking on the new door. 

"You may enter." Dumbledore says loudly, the sound of his warm voice echoing around the great hall. 

The door knob turns, and as the door opens it vanishes, and in steps a man in his mid 30s, wearing a goatee, a patched denim jacket over a "Metallica" shirt, baggy jeans with grease and rust stains all over them and a huge ring of keys hanging from one belt loop. Long, ragged, dirty-blonde hair falls not-so-neatly behind his shoulders, and a smile of optimistic mischief is upon his face. As the man steps in, the doorway behind him vanishes, though he does not appear to take much notice. 

"Ah, Mr. Goodenough, Welcome to Aikenwood Academy." Dumbledore politely says. "This is Professors Margarina Castleton and Thomaston Ebbershire." Motioning to each of the professors as he said their names, "It is good to see you again, Charles."

After a moment of surveying the great hall in which he said nothing, Charles Goodenough spoke up "Yes, nice to meet you both. Professor Dumbledore, sir, may I say what an honor it is to be in your presence once again…it has been years, and I see you still believe in me, and for that I cannot be more grateful."

"Yes, I have never stopped believing in any of my students, no matter how time treats them. You are not a student now, however, but an employee and I believe ever more so in your potential as a wizard and a human being." 

"Thank you, sir." Charles replies, bowing his head slightly. "I won't let you down."   

"You are quite welcome, Charles. You will find a door on the floor in front of the steps outside this wall here; it leads to your quarters and office. There you will find everything you need as Caretaker of Aikenwood Academy. We will be accepting students this fall, though I expect you all to have this place well up and running by then."

"Have you found all the professors yet, Albus?" Margarina asked.

"I have one more to locate, but the rest should be in by mid-week." 

"Which one have you left?" Ebbershire asked.

"The Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher." Dumbledore replied. "But no worries, he will be in with the rest of the professors, and will be quite equipped for the job, I assure you. Now, shall we continue with the rest of our tour?" 

The three nod to him, and they take off out of the great hall, and around the school.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

July 4th had been a wonderful time, and as Richard Oswald Kingsworth settled into bed, he couldn't help but to recount all the past weeks' happenings; after all, the food, fireworks, and family where his favorite part of summer. School had never been a favorite part of his life, however, and he hated how his summers seemed to get shorter and shorter every year. He was 12 now, and he hated it even when his relatives would ask him about school during the Holidays. Of coarse they didn't mean to ruin the moment; after all, they were adults and didn't know any better, but still, couldn't they remember all the years before when they would ask him and he would cringe? 

The Family Picnic was always fun, all of his favorite relatives were always there, and the Family Water Fight was NEVER missed. In all of his years he could not remember a single July 4th going on where there wasn't massive amounts of H2O going every where. Yes, that had to be his favorite part of all, the water fight. Richard Oswald or "little Rozzy" grinned as he began to fall asleep. He was hearing Aunt Marry scream as he saw Uncle Gene dowse her from up in the tree again, when suddenly there was noise in his room. Opening his eyes and sitting up, he looked around his room for the source of the disturbance. It sounded like something scratching glass...and looking at his mirror, he saw the reflection of an owl sitting in his window sill. Turning to look at the window, he jumped a bit, but when he noticed the owl was not hooting menacingly like one might see in a horror film, but scratching at his window intently. He got up and walked over to the window. The owl noticed the attention and stopped scratching at the window, and as Richard opened the window, the owl curtly walked in and turned to its side, revealing a scroll tied to its leg. 

"Well, that's awfully odd." Richard said to himself, and untying the strap gently, afraid of hurting the owl, he pulled the scroll loose and noticed it was addressed "Richard Oswald Kingsworth, 2nd second floor window, 1313 Church Street." Richard unrolled it and began to read it. "Aikenwood Academy wants you!" The headline read.

"Hello, my name is Thomaston Ebbershire, and I am Co-Headmaster of Aikenwood Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It has been brought to my attention that you have wizarding blood, and whether you are aware of it or not, you yourself posses the rare and magnificent gift of magic. Now, you may not be aware of this, as The American Wizarding Community has tried to deter and diminish all American-born Wizards, but it is true, and as a result, we would like you to attend our school in the fall, so as to teach you to harness, control and command the rare talents you posses. If you are interested, please sign this parchment and return it with our owl and we will send a letter to your parents shortly. Please consider this invitation seriously, and we thank you for your time.

Thomaston Ebbershire,

Co-Headmaster of Aikenwood Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry"

Not knowing what to think, he reached for the pen that lay on his nightstand beside his bed, when all of a sudden the owl let out a small hoot. Looking back at it, Rozzy noticed the owl was holding a feather quill in its beak, and it seemed to want Richard to take it from him. Reaching for the quill, Richard looked down at the letter in his hand and he noticed that in the upper left-hand corner there was now a glistening black spot of ink. 

"Ok, here goes" He said unsure, and dipping the quill into the ink spot, he watched it absorbed some of the magical ink. Then, noticing the x and dotted line on the bottom of the parchment, he signed "Richard Oswald Kingsworth," rolled the parchment back up, tied it back to the owls' leg and watched as it marched back out the window and flew off into the night. Richard felt suddenly tired and lay back down and slept very soundly the rest of the night.

"Rozzy, wake up" where the first things he heard the next morning, followed by his mothers' fist pounding on his door. "Rozzy, phone, its Nikolas, honestly, are you going to sleep all day?"

He got up, walked over to his bedroom door while wiping the sleep from his eyes, opened the door and took the phone from his mother. His mother was slightly taller than him and slightly overweight with deep-sea green eyes and unnatural red hair, which was in a loosing battle with the gray hairs she had had for some time now. She smiled at him as he asked "mmm, what's for breakfast?" and she scurried downstairs to try to save the pancakes from burning. 

"Hello?" Richard said dreamily.

"Roz, I gotta tell you about this wicked dream I had last night!" came the way-too-excited-for-this-early-in-the-morning voice of his best friend, Nikolas Newtree.

"Oh yeah, I bet I got one better than yours." Richard said, still half asleep.

"Dude, There was this owl, it came swooping in my window, landed on the corner of my bed, and DUDE, there was a letter addressed to me tied to his leg! It was so weird cause I could read-and you KNOW how you can very rarely read in dreams-it was about this school for witches' man, it was way-nefarious!"

Being set aback by him and Nikolas having the same dream, Richard rubbed the back of his neck where his hair was tickling it. He looked into the mirror and noticed his long, near naval-length "mop" as his step-father called it was in dire need of brushing. "Hey, Niko, let me call you back after I take a shower, ok man?"

"Alright man, but make sure and call me back, I wanna know what you think about my dream!" came the still excited voice of his best friend.

"Alright man, I will. I'll see ya..."

"Later man." came Nikos' response to their patented parting line.

Richard hung up the portable phone and laid it on the charger on the way to the bathroom. As he passed his sisters room, he could have sworn he heard her and her friend Tabitha still snoring and he wondered why his mother hadn't woken THEM up as well, but then he remembered it was the summer, probably even the weekend, and his best friend had called him, not her. 

As he entered the bathroom and walked into his half of it, he reached over to his tub and turned all three knobs, the first and last halfway each and the one in the middle all the way, so he could enjoy a nice warm shower. He went back and closed the door to his half of the rest room and stopped at his toilet, took off his pajamas and proceeded to urinate, but noticed something weird about himself. He realized he had to lean almost to a ninety-degree angle so as not to miss the toilet, because his member was long, hard and quite unwilling to bend. By the time he was done his member had shrunk back to its normal size, and with a slight smile on his face, finally realizing what that meant, he stepped into the shower. He washed himself good, enjoying the feeling of the warm water rushing all over his body, the feel of the soap bubbles and then having them washed away, and then of course he washed his hair. Having not cut it since hearing that his father had died, it was almost always a point of agitation to his step-father, and it seemed to annoy him even more so when he was angered at him for some reason or another. Not that his step-father hated him, in fact, they got along pretty well most of the time, and he treated his mother the same way his father use to, as well as he could remember, and he knew that they both were good friends back in school. Reaching down and turning off the water, Richard shook his head violently, shaking out as much water from his long, brown hair as he could. Stepping out of the shower and reaching for his towel on the back of the door to his half of the bathroom, he noticed something in the mirror. Walking closer, he examined closer and saw that yes, he DID have a chest hair! 

"Woot!" came his expression of excitement as he examined with more delight his first chest hair...then looking down under his belly button, he frowned as he saw no hair protruding yet from his pelvis. But then he remembered his first erection just this morning, and knew more hair would be coming.

After drying and brushing his hair, he wrapped his towel around his waist and walked proudly out of his half of the bathroom and back down the hall to his room. After shutting his door, pulling off his towel and examining his new chest hair again in the wall mirror, he walked over to his dresser and pulled out some underwear. Hoping they would be too small, he was disappointed as he found they still fit the same, but as he pulled on an ugly brown shirt his mother had bought him with and old airplane on it and his favorite jeans, he realized that that too, would soon come.

With his mind off his growing body and now on his empty stomach, Richard Oswald goes downstairs, skipping every other step. With the smell of the first batch of burnt pancakes still in the air, he sees his mother at work on a fresh batch as he reaches for the kitchen phone and dials up Nikolas' number. 

"Yes, Hello, Mrs. Newtree, may I please speak to Nikolas?"

"Oh, Hello dear, I'm afraid Niki isn't here." said his mother, in her sweet yet slightly loud, almost grandmother-voice.

"Where did he go, he told me to call him right back?" Richard asked before thinking.

"He's on his way over dear; he should be there any moment. He seemed quite happy to know you were back this morning, said he couldn't wait to see you. Do have him call when he gets there, won't you?"

"Ok Mrs. Newtree, I sure will thank you." Richard hung up the phone, knowing he should have known better. He had been gone for 10 days to Aunt Marrys', and Nikolas hadn't been able to go this year because they were just getting in the day after Richards' family left for their summer vacation. 

            Just as Richards' mom sat the heaping plate of pancakes down on the table and Richard began to lob a few onto his own plate, Nikolas came bounding up the sidewalk and knocked on the door. As Richard let Nikolas in, his mother offered him a glass of milk as she finished pouring her son one. 

"No thanks Mrs. Prince just finished my breakfast." Nikolas answered to Richards' mother. Sitting at the table opposite of Richard, Nikolas beamed as he said "So Rozzy, what d'ya think about my dream." 

Richard, remembering what his friend had told him and remembering his own, similar dream thought at the question as he finished his mouthful of pancake, and answered "Tell me more about it."

After Nikolas recounted his dream in more detail and Richard had finished his plate of pancakes, the two went upstairs to Richards' bedroom, where Richard described to Nikolas his own "dream". As they both pondered the significance of the both of them having similar, though different dreams, there was a knock on Richards' door.

"Come in." Richard said.

The door opened and Richards' sister, Hope walked in. Hope is about 7 years old, with very short blonde hair (due to the fact that she pulls strands out to tickle her nose with while she sucks her thumb, so her mother keeps it cut short) and wearing a nightgown with winged unicorns on it. She looks at the both of them and says in a fairy-like voice "Mom wants you to come downstairs." She then turns around and heads back to her own bedroom, where a long-black haired, bright-orange eyed Tabitha is standing in a nightgown with flowers on it. 

Shrugging their shoulders at each other, the boys walk downstairs, where Richards' mom has two bags of trash to be taken out (one which smells oddly like burnt pancakes). As they are toting the trash across the lawn, they notice the mail man stopping at Richard's mailbox to deposit some letters, and after heaving the bags of trash into the cans, they walk over to the mailbox, remove the letters from inside it and head back to the house. As they trot back across the lawn, Richard shuffles through the mail until he comes across an official looking document marked from "Aikenwood Academy". This catches Nikolas' eye too, and they stop and examine it together.

"No WAY!" Nikolas let's out "Rozzy, that WASN'T a dream! We really WERE visited by owls last night! There really are such things as witches and wizards, and we are going to be two of them!"

Not knowing what to say, Richard nodded in agreement and walked back inside with the letters and handed them to his mother. 

Watching her as she shuffled through the mail ("Bill, Bill, Junk, Bill") and then finally coming to the Aikenwood Academy letter, the boys tried not to seem to suspicious (Nikolas poking about the pantry and Richard nosing through the refrigerator). As his mother tore it open and read it ("Dear Mrs. Prince...blah blah blah... new school...blah blah blah...bonefeied professors...blah blah blah...private boarding Academy of no cost..."). After reading it, she looked down at the boys who had abandoned their mock-refuging to stare at her, and asked "So, where did you hear about this new school?"

Shocked and not knowing what to tell her, Richard looked to Nikolas, who shrugged, and then he said the first thing that came to his mind, "A little bird told me". 

After hearing this, his mother replied "And you'd be alright going to a boarding school, not coming home except for holidays?"

As he was about to answer, the phone rang and Richards' mother went to pick it up.  

"Hello? Oh, hello Candice, how are you? Yes, he's here. What's that? Oh, he got a letter too then? Well, I don't know anything about it, but they seem to. Alright, I'll ask them."

Looking at each other as she turned back to them, Mrs. Prince asked them 

"Well boys, should we throw these applications away or will you be going?"

Both being excited but very confused, the boys nodded then turned and smiled at each other. 

"Ok Candice, will do, you take care now, ok? Uh-huh, will do, ok, goodbye." Mrs. Prince then hung up the phone and turned back to the boys. "Nikolas, your mother wants you home to help rake the yard." 

"Ah, man."

"Go on now, your father's waiting."

"Alright."

"It was good to see you again."

"Yes ma'am, you too."

And with that, Nikolas hugged Richard and walked out the back door and disappeared up the sidewalk.

As his mother made her way to the laundry room, Richard snuck a peak at the application and noticed that it had no mention of witchcraft and wizardry or magical blood anywhere on it. No, it looked like an ordinary school application to him, only it wasn't an ordinary school. It was a boarding school, and despite his hopes, he couldn't help but feel slightly afraid that he and his best friend had just gotten themselves landed in a military school.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

            The rest of the summer seemed to zoom by as thoughts of a wizarding school filled Rozzys' and Nikos' minds. Niko didn't seem to have a shadow of a doubt about the school being awesome, but Rozzy couldn't help but worry that it was some sick hoax and that their dreams were just that, and that they would soon find themselves doing push-ups and running laps and performing kitchen patrol all day long. The worse thought about this was his hair. He had not had his hair cut for what, six years now, and he refused to let anyone cut it. Not his mother, his step-father and certainly some steam-engine of a man known simply as "Drill Sergeant." 

            A package from the school arrived a week after his mother had sent in the "Application for Enlistment at Aikenwood Academy." They looked like normal school books - neither magical nor military - and so Rozzy stacked them on his desk next to his schoolbag and ignored them. That is, until he got a phone call from Niko the week before they would be leaving for the school.

            "Hey Rozzy, have you checked out the books from Aikenwood!?"

            "Of course I did, what's the big deal, they looked like regular books to me."

            "Dude, where are they!?"

            "They're in the study with my other school stuff, why?"

            "DUDE, GO GET THEM! Bring them back into your room and check them out."

Now this seemed a little more than odd to Rozzy. After all, it was another week before they had to go to school, and Richard Oswald Kingsworth was NOT about to do homework during his summer break.

            "Hey man, can't you just tell me what the big deal is?" He said into the receiver, slightly annoyed that his friend wanted him to break the peace of summer with pre-term studying.

            "Just go get them! Bring them in your room and make sure your parents aren't around." Niko said, also slightly annoyed that his best friend on the whole planet wasn't taking him seriously.

            At this, Rozzy jumped off his bed, ran downstairs into the study, and grabbed his books, though he noticed they still looked like regular school books ("Literature and Language, Pre-Algebra Mathematics, "Earth Science", and "History" threw them into his school bag. Dashing back upstairs carrying his bag over his left shoulder, the bag was just beginning to become a pain in his shirt-less shoulder as he flew back into his room, closing his door and tossing the bag onto his bed. 

            "Now, what was that all about?" Rozzy panted into the phone, having not exerted that much effort all summer long (unless of course if you count the Family Water Fight). 

            "Look at them!" came Nikos' vague response.

            Opening his bag again and swearing that his friend was about nuts, he pulled out the first book which he thought had been entitled "Literature and Language", but as it came out it did not look anything like a literature book. On the contrary, the book was dark and the only thing it had on the cover was "Potions, Level 1". 

"That's weird" Rozzy said to himself, or at least he thought he had said to himself, but apparently Niko had heard him, as he was still holding the portable phone between his ear and shoulder.

"What's weird?" Niko asked, acting as if he didn't know.

"The book…the Literature book, it's gone…" emptying his bag, looking at the other books in equal amazement.

"Niko, these AREN'T the books that were downstairs…I didn't have a 'Potions' or 'Charms' book. Nor did I have a 'Herbology' book." Then, looking finally at his history book, he noticed it too had changed.

"And this isn't the History book I had, either. These aren't the same books at all…what happened to them, it's like they…"

"Changed?" said Niko, cutting him off.

"Yes, they've somehow changed…like…" 

"Like Magic?" Niko responded, finishing his sentence for him again.

"Yes! I mean...No…I mean, is that POSSIBLE!?"

"You tell me, Rozzy. You yourself put the books into the bag, and when you pulled them out they had changed."

"But you knew…how did you know?"  
            "I brought them to my room to see how boring the classes were gonna be, and as soon as I got away from my parents and looked at them again, they had changed."

"No way," Rozzy said, and just as Niko was about to respond, there was knock on Rozzys' door and his mother walked in.

"What was all that about?" his mother asked, slightly perturbed.

"Wh-what was what all about?" Rozzy asked his mother, totally clueless as to why she had busted into his room. 

"Running downstairs and then back up like your tail was on fire, that's what!" his mother retorted.

"Oh, that. I was, um…" and looking down at his school bag and books, he noticed that they had changed back to their original forms, reading "Literature and Language", "Earth Science", "Pre-Algebra Mathematics" and the "History" book was lying open in front of him.

"I see, you were hitting the books early this year, well, I suppose there's nothing wrong with that, if you think you could do it a little quieter perhaps?" His mother said, seeming not so upset now.

"Oh, of course. Sorry mom." 

"No problem dear, now don't forget we'll be going to the mall later to get you some new shoes for school."

"Ok mom, but just shoes?"

"Oh yes, they said in the letter they sent me that all you will be needing is shoes, socks and underwear. They will be providing the rest of the uniforms themselves."

"Uniforms!?" he replied, thoroughly disgusted with the idea. 

"Oh yes, uniforms, and I think its' a wonderful idea as well. Now don't you go complaining either, this school was your idea." His mother retorted, and before he could decide whether or not to admit that the school WASN'T his idea, his mother walked out of his room and shut his door. He looked down and the books on his bed had changed once again to "Potions", "Herbology", "Charms" and his "History of Magic" book was the one lying open.   

"You still there man?" came Nikos' voice from the phone that was about to fall from between his shoulder and his ear.

"Y-yeah, I'm still here." 

"What was that all about…did your mom say uniforms?"

"Yeah, she says we will be wearing uniforms at Aikenwood."

"Ah, you've GOT to be kidding me. Did she say what type of uniforms?"

"No, just said the school would furnish them." 

"Well, that sucks, now doesn't it?"

"Yeah, sure does. Mom said we'll be going shopping for some new shoes later, wanna come?"

"Sure thing man, I'll ask my mom for some money and be over there in a bit, ok?"

"Ok man; see I'll see ya…"

"Later man."

And with that, he hung up the phone and lay on his bed examining his bewitched school books and had just fallen into a nap when there was a knocking on his bedroom door.

The mall was crowded with people beginning their back to school shopping, and every time he saw a sign with the words "back to school" Richard Oswald winced. He just hated the fact that he would soon be going back to school, and what's more, he'll be going to an academy that he has no idea about, accept that according to the letter the owl had brought to him in what he thought was a dream, it was suppose to be a wizarding school. But then again, he still wasn't sure about that letter, and the weird books weren't all that convincing, either. 

He, his mother and Nikolas had gone to two shoe stores already and he had seen nothing he had really liked. There was only one shoe store left, and he had been looking forward to browsing through it, when he heard an unmistakable pair of high-pitched giggles and he and Nikolas swore under their breathes as they turned to walk into the store and saw Miranda and Amanda Lancaster. These two blonde-haired, blue eyed twins hated boys with a passion and another reason that Richard liked the summer came back to him: because he didn't have to put up with them. These two were the twin terrors of the neighborhood, and of the school he, Niko and all their other friends had been going to for what seemed like an eternity. As far back as the third grade, when the girls had gain height on them somehow, Miranda and Amanda had been bullying the boys in every way they could, and leading other girls into thinking boys were "icky" and had cooties. Trying not to look at either of them and sneak past, his mother stopped him and Niko with a sudden out burst of "Oh look Rozzy, it's your little girlfriends from school, Miranda and Amanda!" 

Coming to a quick halt and thinking of his mother "traitor, you shall pay for this," he turned and as he saw Niko sneak off, forced a smile onto his face as his mother pushed him closer to the two females who had murderous looks in their eyes, totally setting lie to their otherwise innocent-looking faces. They were both wearing knee-length black denim skirts and short sleeved button-up collared shirts that would almost made the pair attractive, had they not been known for trying to rid the planet of its' male "infestation" as they called it. As his mother conversed with their parents and walked off, Richard felt his need to escape and made for the nearest aisle, and just as he was beginning to wonder if they had followed him or strayed off to look at girl shoes, he felt two hands grab the back of his denim jacket, wheel him around and slam him against the shelf of shoe boxes.

"So, little Rozzy is going to Aikenwood Academy as well then?" Miranda said.

"Oh, hello Miranda, Amanda, nice to, er, run into you here." He said, trying not to seem afraid of them, though his back was literally against the wall and they were holding him against it.

"You seriously don't think we are that stupid, do you?" Amanda said.

"You…two…stupid? Come now, Amanda, Miranda, I would NEVER call…er…think that of you." He said, looking from both of them and just as he had decided he was about to take a double fist to the groin from his female assassins, shoe boxes from either side of his head shot out at them, and hitting them square in the faces, loosened their grip on him. Just as they sprang back from the unexpected attack, Richard made for it down the aisle and just as he turned back looking at them and laughing thinking "that was magic" to himself, he rounded the next aisle and saw Nikolas running at him smiling.

"I got them!"

"You!?"

"Yeah, you didn't see me? I took off around the store when I knew your mom was gonna stop you. I watched you from back in the back and when I saw them round on you I stepped in and saved your tail."

"Thanks bud, but let's go before they quit crying and figure out what happened."

"Right."

They looked and they looked, but neither Nikolas nor Richard found shoes they really liked, and so they left the mall empty-handed though warm-hearted ("did you see their faces when the shoe boxes flew at them, I was laughing so hard my sides were hurting!"). Dinner that night was great, as Richards' mother ordered pizza and allowed Nikolas to spend the night. They stayed up until around 11 playing video games and then finally went to bed after discussing what they thought the new school would be like (though Richard still didn't mention his fears of boot camp with Sergeant Slaughter).

 They fell asleep, but not before trying to figure out what type of uniforms they would be wearing as well. As he slept, Richard saw himself wearing skirts and shirts just like the Lancaster sisters had been wearing. And, as if the thought of wearing girl uniforms to school wasn't bad enough, he walked into what looked like a huge military building. As he was walking into a classroom, he heard the class laughing and he was no longer wearing the horrible skirt and button-up, but he noticed he was wearing nothing but his underwear and socks…and as if THAT wasn't bad enough, he was having his second erection. Running out of the class screaming, only to find himself falling, he woke up sweating. As he sat up panting, he realized he felt warm and wet, and upon pulling back his covers and standing up, he realized he had wet his bed. 

"How embarrassing" he thought, and as he checked to make sure Nikolas was still asleep on the other side of his bed, he noticed that the stain on his underwear and bed sheets wasn't yellow, but quite clear. Then, thinking back to all the tea he had drank while playing video games and then his first erection coming back to him, he realized he had not wet the bed, but rather had a wet dream; another sign of puberty arriving. Richard stood for a few minutes trying to figure out how he was going to get Niko off the sheets and change them without drawing too much attention to the wet spot, when it hit him. He grabbed the cup of water on his bed stand, tip-toed down the hall to the bathroom, went to the sink on his side of the bathroom, emptied the glass and filled it with warm water. Then, tip-toeing back down the hall to his room, he walked over to the side of the bed where Nikolas was laying, and slipped his arm from around his teddy bear and inserted two of his fingers into the warm cup of water. After watching him for a minute and drawing his conclusion that, since Niko had smiled and squiggled a bit, his plan had worked, he replaced his friends arm, put the cup back on his bed stand and waited curled up on his half of the bed, trying to avoid the now cold wet spot. Within minutes, though it seemed like an eternity scrunched and curled around the wet spot, his friend Niko sprang to life, looked down at Richard, who was playing opossum in that impossible position and sprinted to the bathroom. Upon returning, he "woke" Rozzy and explained very embarrassingly that he had had an accident. Seeming way to understanding, Rozzy told him to go get a fresh batch of sheets from the closet while he took these off and down to the laundry room. While listening to apologies pouring from Nikos' mouth and changing the sheets, Rozzy almost felt sorry for pulling such an awful joke on him, though he knew his friend would have done the same thing.

The rest of the morning was pretty uneventful really, as they sat up and finally defeated the video game they had been playing for weeks now (neither of them felt tired after changing the sheets and starting the laundry). Upon everyone else waking up and coming downstairs they turned their video game off and joined the family in the kitchen for breakfast. Eggs, bacon, toast and grits had never tasted so guilty, so Richard promised himself he would tell Nikolas what had really happened that night…some day. He couldn't help how mad his best friend would be when he found out, after all, he had saved his life earlier that day, and he had the balls to go behind his back and blame him for wetting the bed! Not that Nikolas hadn't wet his bed before, but that had been ages ago, before kindergarten. He himself had even wet Nikolas' bed a few times back then. No, he would tell him. He finally made up his mind around noon when the mail came, and with it news from Aikenwood Academy.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"Welcome to Aikenwood Academy,

We first would like to thank you for deciding to join us and we promise a very interesting and educational first year to our school. We hope you received your books and have read the introductory chapters to each, as they will explain the design and purpose of the courses. 

School starts on Augusta 1st and our first in-school Holiday will be October 31rst. There will be Thanksgiving Holidays as well, and then Fall Semester Exams will precede the Christmas Holidays. School will commence on January 3rd and there will be no more out of school holidays until the Spring Semester is over, however there will be a few in-school holidays, such as St. Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day and Good Friday. The purpose of in-school Holidays is to give the students a day off of classes and to afford teachers to catch up on their scheduling and grading. Students will be permitted to leave school during the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holidays to join their families. Additional vacations are allowed through request to the headmaster by the students' parents two weeks prior to the desired date(s). 

Please send (as soon as possible) a full copy of your students' medical records, as Dr. Gillingsly, our school physician, prefers as full a medical history as can be provided. Dr. Gillingsly is a very skilled pediatrician who has been practicing medicine for over 20 years now, and has undergone studies in dentistry, optomelogy, dermatology, cardiology, proctology, urology and gynecology.   

Again, we would like to thank you for deciding to join Aikenwood Academy and we will be very happy to see you on August 1st.

                                                                                    Thomaston Ebbershire,

                                                                                    Margarina Castleton

                                                                        Co-Headmasters of Aikenwood Academy"

Reading the letter after his mother handed it to him; Richard had a weird sensation of relief at reading the paragraph about Dr. Gillingsly. "Sounds like the guy really knows his stuff" Richard thought to himself, and laying the letter back down on the counter, he wondered if the letter, like his school books, would magically change if he looked at it without his mother around. Grabbing the letter up again from the kitchen counter, Rozzy walked from the kitchen, through the living room, up the stairs, down the hall and into his bedroom. Shutting the door behind him, he examined the letter again, and at first he saw no changes, but at a closer look, he noticed there were differences. "Dr. Gillingsly is a very skilled healer who has been practicing healing for well over 20 years now. He worked at St. Mungos Hospital for Magical Maladies for 10 years before retiring into private study where he discovered several curse and jinx remedies."

Just as he was thinking about St. Mungos Hospital, and what a ridiculous name for a hospital that was when the phone rings. After an hour of excited talk between him and Niko, Rozzy hangs up the phone and decides to go outside into the back yard. As he walks outside, he notices it is a bright and sunny day. Basking in the warm rays of the sun, he walks in circles with his arms out-stretched, his head leaned back and his loose hair falling down and gently brushing his back as he swung round. Finally becoming dizzy, Rozzy collapses into the grass and lies there, a few feet from the woods for some time. With his eyes closed he imagines a creepy old castle with a hunchbacked man opening the door and bidding him welcome. He is instantly swept upon by a masked man who talks funny, whose eyes he can't see due to the shadows of his mask from the dim-lighting. Next he is standing in the shadow of a very tall, thick, green-skinned man with a flat head and bolts coming from his neck. This man is very stiffly pointing to someone else…a tall, skinny woman whose tall black hair has lightning streaks in it. She also has bolts in her neck, though she doesn't move as stiffly. There is another man in the room now, a very pale man with pointy fingernails. He is coming very close to Rozzy, puts his hands on his shoulders, leans in…and then enters yet another man, wearing camouflage. He has a big, puffy-red face, is built like a bull, squints like a pug and spits when he talks. 

Richard sits up in the grass. He looks down and sees a lone ant crawling up leg. As he is about to flick it off, he hears something rustle in the woods behind him. He turns to look but can see nothing. "Hello?" he calls. No answer. As he gets to his feet, he hears more rustling from inside the woods. Rozzy makes his way into the woods, curios though confident, seeing as he knew these woods like the back of his hands, and as many times as people have tried, noone has successfully snuck up on him in here…not his sister, not Niko, not even the Lancaster sisters…and from the sound of it that was exactly what it was, someone trying to sneak up on him. Hearing the sound retreat, he cautiously made his was around to where he thought the intruder was heading. "My perch is over there" he thought to himself, moving as quickly as he could, making sure his feet, long since trained for something like this, didn't make a sound. He mounted the old telephone pole that hung diagonal against the other two…from the first day he had ever ventured into these woods he thought how he wanted to train himself to sneak around, climb, run, all without being heard, and now as he climbed the remains of the main power poles for the old trailer park, he was very satisfied with himself. He stayed low as he climbed, and as he got high enough to look over the wall, he saw him. Short black hair, a black shirt and black pants; the intruder. It wasn't one of the Lancaster girls; in fact, it wasn't a girl at all. It definitely wasn't Niko, either. He could tell the man was lost, because he was fiddling with a compass, and just as he was about to duck back down, he heard something behind him. He turned and saw Niko coming up the pole. Now Niko was almost as good as Rozzy was when it came to the bush, but as he turned back around he noticed the intruder was gone. He hadn't heard leaves rustling, just a small pop, and as he climbed back down the pole and looked around, and he thought that was absurd because people don't just "pop" and disappear. 

Not wanting Nikolas to think him crazy, he told him he was looking for a coin he had dropped. "Which coin" Niko asked

"That special one, you know, the one my dad left me" he lied.

"You mean the one with the star in the circle!?" Niko dug further.

"Yeah, you know, the one mom refuses to talk about."

"I can't believe you LOST it!" Niko gasped.

"Ah, I don't know, I think I did, I might not have…probably just misplaced it." Rozzy replied. He hated this, he hated lying to Nikolas. Wanting badly to change the subject, he reached in deep and grabbed the first thing that yielded.

"Did you get that letter today?" Rozzy asked as they started walking back towards the house.

"You mean the one from Aikenwood?"

"Yeah, the one about the 'Healer'? Gee, that's some stuff, ain't it?" Rozzy was glad the lie would be forgotten now.   

"What's up with that name…St. Mundos'?"

"I think you mean St. Mungos'? 

"Yeah, that too. Pretty goofy name for a hospital if ya ask me."    

"Well, I think it's obvious they didn't ask you…you weren't even alive back then."

"Ok, that's true, but still, awfully odd name for a hospital, don't' ya think?"

Before he answered him, the look on Nikos' face shifted. They were out of the woods now, back in Rozzys' backyard. His friend no longer wore the gleeful look he normally did, in fact, it almost looked scared. Yes, that's what it was, fear.

"Hey, Roz, can I ask you something?" The fear was apparent in his friends' voice. He hated this. This hurt him very badly for his friend to be in pain like this, he wanted to find out what as causing it and make it stop.

"Yeah man, you know you can." He forced a smile, and, swallowing hard, playfully nudged his best friend in the whole world on the shoulder with his balled fist.

"Would you be mad at me if I told you I couldn't go to school with you this year?"

Now this definitely hurt Rozzy. Why on earth wouldn't his best friend be allowed to go to school with him!? What on earth could be running through his head? Of course he would be going to school with him, his mother filled out the form…he was there, his mother agreed to it on the phone with her. He had to get to the bottom of this, why on earth would he ask this question?

"No, I wouldn't be mad at you, but why do you ask that?" He looked his friend in the eyes. He had not seen Niko cry in a long time, but he could see the tears building up terribly. Not since they had to burry Nikos' dog, Rufus had his friends' eyes filled with tears. The first one made its way down his soft cheek, his jaw trembling, then he flung his arms around Rozzy and his knees gave way. He didn't ball; he just stood there crying softly into the hair that was on Rozzys' shoulder. Rozzy slowly bent his knees and came to rest on them on the grass. After several minutes of Nikolas' soft crying, he raised his head and said "my mom." With a horrible wrench all throughout his body, Rozzy instantly knew what Niko meant. 

"Sh…sh...She's dying, man." Niko barely got these words past his lips as more tears rolled down his now glistening cheeks. Rozzy wrapped his arms around Nikolas' head and pulled him back to his shoulder.  After a long silence, that is if you call the small intimacy between two friends while one holds the other crying a silence, Nikolas regains some of his composure and leans back away from Rozzy. Avoiding his eyes, he speaks. "They found cancer in her." He huffles a little bit, then continues. "She went to the doctor cause she's been having really bad headaches, and they did blood work and scanned and found cancer in her brain." He sniffles and wipes his nose on the shoulder of his shirt.

They sit there for a while longer, Rozzy staring into Nikos' hair, while Niko looks down, admiring the blades of grass they are crushing. A cricket barely has the room to hop between their knees. Just as Niko was thinking how much he hated the bug and wanted it to die, Rozzy pulled his knee up, and landing his bare feet onto the bug yet paying no attention to the crunch and squish of it, he puts an arm on Nikos' shoulder and says "Why don't you stay here tonight?" 

"Ok man," Is Nikos' reply. Why had he hated the bug and wished it to die? Was it because he figured it was about to return to its mother, who probably was in perfect health…apart from being a bug, anyways. Now that it was dead, though, it didn't matter. They walked together, and it wasn't until they got to the door step that, "Eh, I must have stepped on a bug back there." Rozzy said. 

Niko chuckled. He suspected that Rozzy knew all along about the bug, but in his own way, and probably not even conscience of it; he was trying to make Nikolas feel better. "Rozzy is such a great friend" Niko thought, "Everyone needs a goofy, crazy, eccentric friend like him."   

They ate dinner together in almost complete silence, enjoying each others' company and friendship warmly. They took turns playing their video game and showering, Niko first, as he obviously needed some time to "soak away the day". After their showers, Niko busied himself with reading one of Rozzys' old comics while Rozzy finished brushing his hair. "Maybe I should do that…" Niko began to think, but the end of the sentence stuck in the back of his brain, somewhere between his ears, and he let it die there before he dare finish the thought of growing out his hair "in memory" of his mother. They turned out the lights and lay down, and the silence was finally broken. 

"Hey Niko?" Roz asked.

"Yeah man?" Nikolas replied.

"Ya know the other night you were over here, when you wet the bed?" Richard began.

Niko gulps, he had forgotten all about that. "Y-yeah?"

There was a long pause, and as soon as Richard had gotten up the nerve to answer, something scratched at the window.

            "What the llama?" They both said in unison, bolting upright, and then flying out of the bed. Niko beat Rozzy to the window, being on the closer side of the bed to it. They looked out and saw a large owl sitting on the window sill, with a parchment attached to its leg. Rozzy quickly opened the window and watched the bird march in and turn to his side like Rozzy remembered the last owl doing at his sill. Niko took the letter, unrolled it, and started to read it as the owl marched back out the window, and leapt into the air, spreading its' massive wings and taking flight. 

            "Well, what does it say?"  Rozzy asked excitedly.

            "It's the same letter from earlier…about the healer…see?" Niko answers, pushing the parchment in front of Rozzy. 

            "But why would they send me the same letter?" Rozzy asked.

            "It's not for you, it's for me." Niko replied 

They examined the letter front and back, and, remembering Rozzy had left his on his dresser, he fetched it and the examined the two together and they were identical. 

            "But why…why send you a second letter…and HERE?" Rozzy asked. "How do they know you're here?"

They stood together for some time thinking about it, examining one letter and then the other, never coming to a conclusion. 

The question was still on their minds as they laid back down into Richard Oswald's bed and pulled the covers back over them. They had laid the letters side by side, and Rozzy would be sure and check in the morning to make sure they hadn't both just woken up with the same dream. As Rozzy fell asleep, he was glad that his friend Nikolas had something else to occupy his mind as he slept than his dying mother, for that surely wouldn't make sleeping very easy. He remembered how when Rufus had died that they curled up together and slept in front of the fireplace at Nikos' house where the dog use to lay. Richard was glad he could be such a good friend to Niko, but he didn't think the idea of spooning would work anymore, now that he was starting to wake up stiff in the morning. Rozzy noticed Niko was soon sound asleep, and he found himself drifting off sooner than he thought he would as well. "At least he'll sleep good tonight," he thought to himself, "he always sleeps good next to me." And with that the oblivion that catches up with young boys at the end of an eventful day finally caught Richard. He slept soundly and warmly next to his best friend in the whole world, glad he could be there for him.    
 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The weekend flew by before Rozzy and Niko knew it. They hardly talked about Nikos' mother at all, in fact, it wasn't mentioned but once, and that was when she had called and Hope had asked about her. Niko didn't shed a tear; he merely turned his back on her and looked at Rozzy when he said "Sh…she's doing fine." Of course she didn't know, and there was no need to tell her, either. She was just a stupid little girl after all, and stupid little girls didn't need to know about such things. That's the way Rozzy looked at it, and he was sure Niko looked at it the same way.

            Niko went home early Sunday evening to pack his bags. Another letter had come, which had said a bus would be picking them up from their homes Monday morning. This hadn't seemed too odd to either of them, as they had rode the bus to school before, but Rozzy still couldn't help wondering whether it would be Wizard or a War pig driving the bus. The idea of a witchcraft school was still a bit farfetched for him.

            Monday morning came after a good nights' sleep, considering a weird dream had made the night pass rather quickly. In this dream, Rozzy was back in the woods in his back yard. He was climbing the telephone old poles again. As he looked over the wall, he saw the black haired man in the black shirt and pants once again. He heard Niko coming up behind him, he turned to look at him, then turned back to look at the intruder once more. There was the loud "pop" but instead of seeing noone, he saw a coin. In fact, it wasn't just any coin; it was a coin that looked a lot like his dad's coin. No, it WAS his dad's coin. He could tell because as it rotated on some invisible axis, he saw his father's initials scratched into the back of it. Just as it was rotating back around, everything went black…then a second later everything went white. All of a sudden Rozzy was looking at his reflection in a mirror…when he noticed it wasn't a mirror at all, but panes of glass in a door. This door belonged to a school bus, and as the doors swung open, he saw middle-aged, shaggy-haired man wearing a tattered old denim jacket over an old t-shirt of what looked like Ac/Dc. As he stepped up into the bus, he felt light-headed at first, but finally comfortable as he took a seat right behind the bus driver. He noticed his bags where in a seat across from him. He sat down and the bus rolled forward. He was about to ask the bus driver his name when he said "I'm Charles Goodenough, caretaker of Aikenwood Academy." As they passed Nikos' house, before Rozzy could open his mouth to ask if they were going to stop, Charles flipped a switch that sent the bus rocketing. The bus was going so fast that it seemed as if they had slipped into a worm hole or time warp or something. All the color was gone outside the bus except for random blurs here and there. Just as soon as it had began, the rocketing stopped with the flick of the switch once more by the caretaker. They pulled up behind a line of school busses, which had all seemed to arrive at the same time. Indeed, it seemed odd that they all looked the same and only one child stepped out of each bus as it pulled up to the front of a decrepit looking old building.   

            When it came turn for Rozzys' bus to pull up to the building, he grabbed his bags and went to walk out the door. As soon as he did, he found himself lying back in his bed. He sat up and looked around. He was still in his bedroom at his house. He lay back down and tried to think about the first half of his dream. "Why was dad's coin in the middle of the woods where that man was the other day?" he thought to himself. He thought on this a good while, trying to figure out who that stranger might have been, why he had dreamt of it and then what it had to do with the second half of his dream. By the smell that had floated into his room, breakfast was being cooked downstairs, so he got up and dashed down to see how badly his mother was going to burn it today. 

            After a surprisingly well cooked breakfast, Rozzy toted all his stuff he was taking downstairs and into the living room. Out the front door at a little past 7 and onto the sidewalk next to the mailbox he waited for the bus to arrive. As he waited, he wondered how many people were going to be on the bus, how many of them he would know, and most of all, how many of them, like himself, still thought the whole wizarding school idea was a crock of bologna. Rozzy was taken aback a bit as he watched the bus approach from around the corner. It was the same bus from his dream last night. "Coincidence," he thought. As it pulled up to the sidewalk next to his house and the door opened, Rozzy knew he was dead wrong. The same shaggy-haired man in his mid 30's was at the helm of the bus, wearing the same denim jacket and Ac/Dc shirt from his dream last night. Rozzy toted his stuff into the bus, piled it in the seat opposite the one behind the driver and sat down behind him. The door closed, and Rozzy knew what would happen next. He gripped the edge of the seat in front of him as the driver flipped the switch and the bus rocketed forward.  

            "You're Charles Goodenough, right?"  Rozzy said to the driver

            "Yeah, that's me." The driver chuckled.

The same random blurs of color were the only light now that the bus was blasting by everything. This got the best of Rozzy, so he spoke up and asked "How fast are we going?" 

            "Couldn't tell ya." Came Charles' response

            "What do you mean; doesn't this thing have a speedometer?" Rozzy replied

            "Well, it does, but Muggle devices like speedometers can't calculate speed for magical travel. See, we're not exactly driving down the highway. You'll soon learn all about magical traveling once ya get to school, but since I'm just the caretaker, it ain't my place to teach ya stuff like that." And with that, Charles flicked the switch on the dash once more and the bus was rolling down a path in the woods, though Rozzy had no idea where. 

            The bus came to a stop behind a line of other busses just like the one he was in, and he watched as they one by one pulled up to the same decrepit building, unloaded one child and their luggage, then sped off into the woods and disappeared with a loud "crack". When Rozzys' bus finally pulled up to the building, he noticed it looked like an ancient catholic church. After unloading all his stuff, he turned to ask Charles something, but already the doors were closed and he was seeing his reflection in the glass pains of the door. The bus sped off and then, just like all the others, disappeared with a loud "crack" as it turned the corner. Rozzy looked once more at the building, and just when he was making up his mind to go in, the next bus had pulled up behind him. He turned to look at who climbed out of it, and who should he see but the Lancaster sisters, getting up from their seats in the back of the bus. Hastily turning back around, he hefted up his gear and headed on towards the building, hoping not to have caught the glance of the girls. Just as he made it up the stairs and reached the front door as it swung open, he heard their shrill and high-pitched demon-like voices call out "Oh little Raaaah-zzeeeee!"  in unison.

Not wanting to look around to see how close they were, he held tight to his bags as he saw Nikos' arm reach through the door and yank him and his stuff in. The door slammed behind them and Rozzy poured out thanks to Niko for saving his life yet again as he dropped his stuff on the floor.

            After regaining his composure, he looked around and saw some 30 students standing around, all gazing down at the floor. Moving his stuff against the wall where Nikos' travel bag, teddy bear and pillow were, he then walked over to stand with the other students to catch a glimpse of what they were looking at. The pattern of the floor was moving – constantly swirling – as if it were a giant drain of some sort. The gas or liquid or whatever it was made odd shapes as it constantly swirled into oblivion; it would bubble, twist and contort in many different ways. Sometimes it even made faces! One tall and plump student with dirty blonde hair – who Rozzy recognized instantly as Berry Corbin - proceeded to stomp onto the center of the swirl pattern. The effect this had was quite amazing, as it sent ripples throughout the rest of the floor, quite like a lake after a rock has been tossed into it. The students around Berry showed their approval with "oos" and "ahs". Being the attention whore that he was, Berry jumped higher to try and get more of a response. The ripples passed under their feet faster and bigger. This produced more oos and ahs and some clapping. Again Berry wanted more attention, so he jumped higher and harder this time. The applause was even louder as the waves went crashing under the crowds' feet. With a smile full of arrogance and self, he jumped harder and harder and harder still, and on the third bounce of this barrage, something unexpected happened: the floor cracked. Immediately there was a deafening gust of wind coming from the floor, sucking everything it could down into the floor. Berry's feet were already gone as he was sucked in slowly by the force of the swirl. There were screams, Rozzy could tell as he and Niko clung together to the banister of the nearby stairs, but those screams seemed lost as a siren was now wailing loudly over the gusting winds. All of a sudden, there were streams of bright colored light flashing from everywhere towards the floor, and just as quickly as the chaos had started, it was over. All the students were huddled on the ground, still holding their ears. All the students that is, except Berry Corbin, who was buried up to his shoulders in the floor.  For half a second Rozzy thought he should be made to stay there, but then he finally felt sorry for Berry, even though he did deserve it. Everyone stood up and watched with great interest as this tall, thin lady wearing forest green robes and a black witches hat points her wand at Berry's head and with a word none of them understood and a flash of light, Berry was all of a sudden standing in the middle of the floor. He was still squinting, and when he opened his eyes, he saw that his pants had been torn away, his legs were cut and bleeding and that the front of his underwear were yellow and soaked. Feeling very embarrassed, he put his hands down in front of his underwear to try to block them from view, but the damage was already done. Everyone in the entrance hall was laughing hysterically. There were three exceptions to this picture of pure joy, however. Neither the tall thin woman with the brown hair who had saved Berry from the floor, the plump young man with red hair and mustard-colored top hat who had appeared beside her nor Berry Corbin himself found it amusing whatsoever.

            Berry ran off towards back wall, opened the double doors and closed them behind him. The short, plump man looked at the tall, thin woman, who nodded at him, and he made his way after Berry as she cleared her throat very loudly to begin speaking. 

"Attention everyone," She said and the students immediately hushed up. "I am Margarina Castleton, Co-headmaster of the Aikenwood Academy of witchcraft and wizardry. I want to welcome you all and ask that you please NOT jump on the swirl-o-floor anymore. The ghouls underneath cannot be held responsible for any damage they do, though YOU will be if you let them out. They are imprisoned there for a reason and we thought the design would be appropriate for your amusement, however, another example of abusing this privilege will result in the removal of their holding chamber and expulsion of whomever decides to let them out. Now, if you will, Ladies up the staircase my left, and Gentlemen up the staircase behind me to the right. You will find your rooms assigned when you reach the bedding chambers. That is all, thank you." 

And with that, she turned her back and proceeded to the double doors at the end of the hallway, which Berry and the plump man had walked through. As Niko and Rozzy grabbed their stuff and headed towards the steps, they noticed they were moving like an escalator. "Not to bad then?" Niko asked his pal as they stepped onto the automated steps and ascended upwards. "Nah, I don't think so," came Rozzys' reply as he hugged his best friend. 

The stairs did not stop on the second floor, and when Edward Smith tried to step off, he was flung back onto the conveyor belt that turned and continued ascending to the third floor. He got to his feet, shrugged his shoulders and said "Guess we aren't staying on that floor then," and turned back around. They rode the escalating staircase all the way to the fourth floor, where they were finally let off. As they trotted down the hall, they noticed their names were written with gold in pairs on the doors. Edward Smith was paired with Berry Corbin, Chris Sowell and Ben Connell were roomed together, Robbie Letters and Jeff Franklin were paired, and in the room at the very end of the hall on the left Rozzy and Niko were rooming together. 

"Well, Richard Kingsworth and Nikolas Newtree, here we are" said Niko as Rozzy swung open the door. The both of them gasped in amazement as they walked in.    


	6. Chapter 6

Dropping their bags as they crossed the threshold together, they stammered apart; Rozzy to the left and Niko to the right. The room seemed massive for the space it was allotted, first the doors on either side of the entrance; the one on the left Rozzy found was the restroom which connected to the next room, and the one on the right was a very spacious walk in closet with shelves, drawers and cubbies galore. The bathroom had two toilets, two showers and two sinks, and mirrors everywhere. After closing the doors and moving further into the room, they saw two solid looking desks made of some very fine dark wood, with nice looking arm chairs sitting under them. Next to these chairs were tall, gray, shapeless statues. Or, at least that's what they appeared to be.

Rozzy walked up to the one on the right and went to touch it. As soon as he did, it shivered and blue smoke wafted from the top of it and appeared to be absorbed into Rozzys' head. Niko watched almost horrified. Several minutes seemed to pass, and just as Niko was making his way over to his motionless friend to check on him, green smoke wafted out from his friends' head and returned into the statue. What happened next Niko couldn't believe. The statue started to shiver again, but this time it started to change. It's shapeless form started to shrink, grow thick and take on curves. Within seconds its image had totally metamorphosized. Niko couldn't believe his eyes. Before his best friend with the long, brown hair stood a penguin. But the transformation wasn't over, and to his amazement he noticed Rozzy was somehow aware of what has happening even though he still wasn't moving. The penguins' eyes finally opened, and Niko noticed he wasn't black like a normal penguin. Instead, he was cobalt blue and he blinked icy-silver eyes. Niko had to ask what had just happened, but before the words passed through his lips; Rozzy rounded on him looking extremely pleased. Niko had a bad feeling his friend had just done something equally as stupid as Berry jumping on the swirl-o-floor.   
"Dude, WHAT did you DO!?" Niko finally asked.   
"Dude, it's ok. Just touch it and think of something." Came Rozzys' response as he pushed Niko towards the statue on the left side of the room.   
"What!?" Niko thought his best friend had lost it.   
"Dude, it's OK. It was put here for us to use. It's kinda like a…reminder. A butler, a friend."

With that, he turned around and reached out to touch the statue. Instantly his eyes were fixed and he didn't see the blue smoke that he had seen come to Rozzy. Instead, all he saw was midnight. Or, at least, that's what it reminded him of. Then, he heard a warm voice ask him something. This voice didn't come from outside, but it seemed to be inside his own head. It asked him in a very warm and motherly voice   
"What would you like?"

Niko didn't know what to say, but as he was running over the question in another quadrant of his mind, the voice came back   
"I will be your friend. I will help you all throughout the school year. All I ask is that you tell me what shape I should take and be nice to me."

Now Niko didn't know what to think. So this is what it was like for Rozzy? It DID make sense; Rozzy had always had a thing for penguins. But what was it that Niko was going to pick? What HAD he always wanted?

"More than anything?" Came the voice again.   
"Yes, that's it." Niko remembered thinking suddenly.   
"Are you sure?" Asked the genderless mother-like voice.   
"Yes, I am positive." Niko could have sworn he heard himself say, and all of a sudden he was back in the room, looking at a young girl. He could see her whole being, even though he didn't move his head, or even his eyes. All of a sudden he heard the voice ask   
"What color shall I wear?"   
This time it wasn't inside of his head, but seemed very distant.   
"Perhaps blue…no no, PINK! Yes, pink."   
"Are you sure?"   
"Yes, pink will be fine."   
"Is that all?"   
"Err, white hair."

And with that, the girls' skin turned a dreamy, milky-silky pink and her hair which fell straight down her back just as long as Rozzys' turned ghost white and seemed to shimmer with a few glints of silver. She blinked the same icy-silver eyes he had seen Rozzys' penguin blink, though he could tell they were different…better somehow. These eyes belonged to HIS friend…his SPECIAL friend.He turned slowly to face Rozzy, aware suddenly that he was wearing the same empty smile he had seen his friend wearing only seconds ago, though it had somehow seemed like years. The two of them looked at each other silently for a few seconds, watching the new "friends" eyes' blink behind the other occasionally.

The silence was broken by a scratching at the window at the far end of the room. Niko and Rozzy both raced to the window to open it. In flew a brown barn owl with a piece of parchment tied to each leg. On one leg the hair was shaved away in the shape of an "R" and on the other one an "N" was shaved away. Each of them untied the parchment from his leg of the owl. The owl hooted almost rejoicingly, ruffled up its feathers, and then flew back out the window. The letter read as follows: "Welcome to Aikenwood Academy, boys. I do hope you like the way I fashioned your rooms. It is quite different from the way the dorms were back at the school I grew up in, but that's another story, for another time. I hope you find everything suitable, as I made the rooms quite spacious as to accommodate you growing young boys as best as possible.   
I want first to ask you that, if you haven't already discovered them, please investigate the golemn statues in the middle of your rooms. Simply reach out and touch them and choose the form which would best suite you. These golemns will aide you throughout this year and any future years here at Aikenwood. They will stay here during the summer, as your parents probably won't be too keen on you keeping them, and, if you choose not to return next year, they will be recycled for new students next year.   
Well, next year isn't going to be the focus of this letter. Nor will this year, either. The point of this letter is to ask you to come down to the Great Hall in two hours to be suited for your uniforms and matched with your wands. Don't dread the uniforms, as you'll find them quite suitable I'm sure, and as for your wands, don't get too excited. As you are first year students, most of whom probably don't even believe in magic, these wands will have a limit to their powers that will be slowly increased or decreased, according to your ability, practice, and most importantly discipline.   
Dinner will start after all the suiting is finished. It is asked that as soon as you are suited with uniform and wand that you either go up to your room, go outside or go to the Library downstairs until the dinner bell is rang. Then you are asked to proceed back into the Great Hall. Dinner will be served between 7 and 8. In the event you come to the Great Hall late, you will not miss dinner, but you will be handed a card. Every time you are late after that, your card will be punched. Three punches and you will miss the next meal you are tardy to. As you may have seen earlier today, jumping on the swirl-o-floor could be grounds for anywhere from severe tickling to expulsion from Aikenwood Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please do not take your chances, as this is a serious offense, no matter the degree of damage and punishment.   
The school has been divided into teams by gender, in an attempt to raise FRIENDLY competition between schoolmates and make learning, living, and growing more fun. Please note no boys shall be allowed in girls' dorms and vice-versa. This is a serious offense as well, and is also subject to any of the serious punishments listed above.   
In closing, I, Thomaston Ebbershire, co-headmaster of Aikenwood and counselor to the boy's team urge you to have fun. You will come to find there is so much more to the world than you already know, and you will find there is so much more to yourselves as well. I will see you at dinner.   
Thomaston Ebbershire   
Co-headmaster of Aikenwood Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry"

Rozzy looked up at Niko after reading his letter and he noticed his friend was already looking at him. This didn't surprise Rozzy at all, seeing as Niko was a bit faster at reading than he was.   
"So, what do you think about that?"   
"What, the letter?" Came Rozzys' response   
"Yeah, uniforms and wands." Niko replied   
"Well, I guess we'll find out in a bit, won't we?" he said, and walking back over to his suitcase, he had an idea.

"Prism, please help me unload my suitcase." And with that, the blue 3-foot penguin with the white tummy jumped up, smiled, and waddled over to Rozzys' suitcase. He hefted it up, which looked much easier than it should have been for a creature with flippers, and carried it behind Rozzy as he led the way into the closet.

With that, Niko decided to try it as well. He turned to look at the pink-skinned, white-haired girl and went to speak. The words tripped at his mouth, however, when he realized he hadn't named her. Just as he was wondering what to call her, the same mother-ish voice came to him in its far-off tone   
"Anything you like," it said.

He thought for a moment, or a second, he couldn't really have known, and the first name that came to him he wasn't sure where he had heard it before, but he knew that was what he wanted to call her.

"Labyrinth, will you help me unload my stuff, please?" And with that, the pink skinned young girl smiled such a sweet smile, hopped, skipped and jumped over to him, hugged him, and then lifted up his suitcase, pillow and teddy bear and looked at him, waiting for him to lead the way.Slightly embarrassed as he saw she was holding all of his stuff, when he had meant just his suitcase, he flushed, smiled a wry little creak of a smile and then said "Oh no, just my suitcase, my bear and pillow can go on my bed."

Labyrinth smiled again, cocked her head a bit, pranced over to the bed next to the stand the statue of clay she had been had come from, placed the pillow and bear on it, then walked back over to him. Shaking his head a bit in amazement, he turned and marched into the closet and she followed him.

As they unpacked their suitcases, Niko and Rozzy found the closet to be the coolest part of their room so far. Every time they put something in a drawer, like socks, after shutting it, writing would appear on the drawer labeled "Socks" followed by the number of the item put into it. Niko was embarrassed to find his drawer reading "Socks, 19" so he found the matchless sole and laid it on a nearby shelf. As soon as he let go if it, however, it came to life, crawled down the shelf and slipped itself back into the drawer with the other socks.

"Wow, this way you can't lose any socks!" Rozzy replied.   
"Yeah, too bad the 20th was lost before we got here." Niko answered, still slightly embarrassed with the lone slipper.   
"So, how many sets of uniforms do you think they are gonna give us, Rozzy?" Niko asked, half interested in knowing his friend's take on the situation, half interested in steering the conversation away from his habit of loosing socks.   
"Probably eight," Rozzy answered after thinking on it carefully.   
"Why do you say that?" Niko asked, now very interested in the conversation.   
"Well, it seems they have all sorts of magical things that are gonna safe guard us and help us out, but I say eight in case one fails…like say if you get sick or spill something on your clothes during the day."


End file.
